Is plastic-free obtainable?

[tortoise]

I'm growing more and more frustrated with plastic everywhere. It's cheap, lightweight, versatile... and is derived from crude oil, and has become a significant environmental problem. Is it possible for a motivated, average middle-class American to stop consuming new plastics for household use?

I'm in a situation where I can reduce my consumption of grocery store food (the vast majority packaged in plastic - and most of it not recyclable!) I can't figure out how to eliminate plastic food packaging though. The more I try to reduce, the more aware I become of the overwhelming quantity of "disposable" plastics in our lives.

How can I/we opt out without becoming crazy hermit hillbilly hippies (no offense intended, y'all know where my heart lies)? Meaning, can we find alternatives that don't involve a major cultural and social shift on a family level? Are there alternatives that have potential for wide-spread appeal?

 

[baymule]

Unless you live on a completely self sustainable farm, you can forget it. Milk-plastic jug. Any dairy-plastic container or wrapper. Cereal-cardboard box, but plastic inner wrapper. Meat-Styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic, even butcher paper is plastic lined. Even once packaged in glass jars stuff is now in plastic jars. Grow it, glass jar it, consume it-seems to be your only option.

I do love my zip loc bags and my vacuum sealed bags.........

 

[tortoise]

I love ziploc. :sigh:

Some of our big offenders are items I really can make at home. I have time. Crackers, granola bars, pudding and yogurt. Especially yogurt!

No grocery store meat packaging here, but lots of butcher paper because we process all our own meat. DH and I have discussed canning some of our venison. I should get my butt in gear and try it. Our country extension had a class on it last fall - of course I missed it. :/

 

[Mini Horses]

Meats are about the only thing I buy that is in plastic. I milk, so don't buy that, sour cream, yogurt & store in glass. I sometimes buy sliced cheese. Eggs are fresh. Rarely buy bread or cereals. I ask for paper at grocery. Some frozen veggies come in plastic bags & I do like vac plastic for freezer.

The darned feed bags are largest amount of plastic I get. I believe those are bio degrade....?

I don't think we will get entirely away from plastic. It would be nice if we all could cut back! OK....disposable diapers are a real issue, too.

 

[tortoise]

I switched back to cloth diapers. DH doesn't like it, he puts plastic diapers on when he can. The "cloth" diapers are plastic anyway - the outer layer is PUL (polyurethane laminate).

 

[Mini Horses]

When my first child was born disposable diapers were "brand new".

He was 49 last month.

I vividly remember lines full of long white cloth diapers drying in the breeze. We had to fold them all then. Now I see the ones they sell are pre folded/sewn. Nice!! We used plastic covers, like regular underwear panties, over the diapers. Of course they were easily re-usable.

It was less costly than the disposables. More work.

Like growing your own veggies!! Less pkging, more work. But better results. LOL

 

[tortoise]

I'm sorry, Mini Horses! I was in Walmart and saw that packs of crappy Gerber prefolded "diapers". Those things are so useless they're a joke! I have some really nice prefolds... never learned to fold them. oops? I even have some Snappies for them. (google them, such a cool invention!) I'm a fan of pocket diapers. Stuff in an appropriate number of inserts and it goes on like a disposable. I was re-gifted 1/3 of mine, and will confess I bought the rest from China. Because $6 each versus $20 - $30 each. They're much more simple in design and construction, but completely adequate. The USA sub-culture surrounding cloth diapering ( a.k.a. fluff) is insane. It's elitist, expensive, and more about status and collecting diapers than anything else. I wandered across a conversation today in which one mom was asking for ideas to display her collection of 50 cloth diapers. Another mom chimes in "I have 100".

 

[Britesea]

I still have a few from when my (now 26) DS was a baby. They make great dish towels, lol. After this many years, I don't think anyone would want to display these stained, torn rags...

 

[Amiga]

I am stepping up my approach to limiting plastic, lately. Here is what I have found so far.

For the animals, I can get pine shavings in kraft paper. I did have to negotiate with a store keeper when he decided he should only sell what's wrapped in plastic as he can sell it for less.

Not only do I not want the plastic (that can be difficult to get across), but because I use the bedding for ducks and don't want them exposed to the thick pine VOCs from plastic-wrapped shavings, I can get across how strongly I feel.

They ordered a pallet of shavings in kraft paper for me to buy. Even allow me to buy 10 bales at a time off the pallet.

I am having a hard time finding sawdust pellets in something other than plastic. phooey.

But the food that I buy - mostly - is in double layers of brown paper, and comes from much closer than other brands that are available. I'm on the east coast, and New Country Organics (formerly Countryside Organics) sells a corn-free, soy-free organic layer feed.

Buying in bulk helps us avoid plastic packaging - I have finally got my beloved on board about that. I did purchase plastic food grade buckets with resealable lids - but at least those aren't throw-away or "recyclable." We recycle a bunch of glass, plastic and metal, and I am aiming to shift to not even having it in the house to begin with. Long row to hoe, with other family member to consider.

There is a local dairy farm and I believe I might be able to bring my own stainless steel milk container to them to buy milk from…Right now I get milk in plastic gallon containers that are either repurposed for wintersowing (mini greenhouses) or recycled.

 

[Denim Deb]

My problem is hubby. He buys a ton of stuff in plastic. I limit my usage as much as possible, but he doesn't seem to care.